serves
6-8
prep
20 minutes
cook
30 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
6-8
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
30
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Serve it with coffee and your friends will think you’re badass.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 200g (1 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar
- 1 cup thickened cream, divided
- 1 tsp fine sea salt or table salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- canola oil for frying
- 3 bananas
- 140 g (5 oz) 65% chocolate, chopped (see Notes)
- 350 g (12 oz) shortbread cookies
- 2 cups vanilla custard or pudding (see Notes)
- 16 strips , chopped, 2 pieces reserved for garnish
Instructions
To make the caramel, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and stir in ¾ cup of the cream. Return to a boil and decrease the heat to a low simmer. Simmer, swirling occasionally, until the mixture reaches 115°C (235°F), about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla.
Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 180°C (350°F). Peel the bananas and fry until deep golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to cool.
Heat the remaining ¼ cup cream in a small saucepan just to a boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.
Place the cookies in a large zip-top bag, squeeze out any excess air, and roll with a rolling pin a few times to make very coarse crumbs; you should have about 3 cups.
You can make one large trifle bowl or individual servings in 250ml (8 oz) jars or glasses. To assemble, layer one-third of the cookie crumbs, half the custard, half the bacon, half the fried bananas, half the caramel, and the chocolate; continue layering on the remaining custard, bacon, bananas, and one-third of the crumbs; top with the remaining caramel and crumbs. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Cut the reserved bacon into long strips and garnish each serving with a strip.
Notes
• You can replace the chocolate with ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips.
• Use your favorite vanilla custard or pudding here; store-bought will work but homemade is better.
Recipes and images from Pure Pork Awesomeness: Totally Cookable Recipes from Around the World by Kevin Gillespie with David Joachim (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $40, pbk)
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Serve it with coffee and your friends will think you’re badass.
